Toy vehicle



March 31, 1942. J., SMITHWICK 2,278,244

TOY VEHICLE Filed June 10, 19:59

?atented Mar. 31, 1942 UNlT-ED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY VEHICLE James .Smithwick, Asheville, N. 0. Application June 10, 1939, Serial No. 278,551

3 Claims.

This invention relates to toys, and particularly to toys adapted for affording amusement and healthful exercise to children of variousages and sizes.

- It is an object of this invention to provide a toy in which one child may ride and be pushed by another' person, especially another child, with ease and convenience. i

It is a further object of this invention to provide a toy vehicle possessed of great strength and durability andof extreme low cost.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a toy wherein the low cost is achieved through simplicity of construction, and without sacrifice of strength, durability and high quality of 'materials.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a toy vehicle having a combined structure in which the shafts orhandles, along with the handrails and backrest,'are all formed from a single rod, tube, or pipe.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a toy vehicle having a novel spring structure, providing a resilient and/or stop connection between the seat and axle of the toy.

These and other objects and advantages will appear from the following description taken with the drawing. U

In the drawing: I

Figure l is .a front view of a toy constructed according to the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the toy illustrated in Figures 1 and 2; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail of a shaft or handle and showing the hand guard and hereinafter described hook construction.

Former attempts to produce a toy having the advantages of toy vehicles constructed according to the principles of this invention have generally been so expensive, due to complication of design, as to greatly limit the marketability of such because of the necessarily relatively high selling prices thereof.

By reason of the simplicity of construction of toys according to the principles of this invention, the cost of manufacture, and hence the selling cost, is brought to a minimum without in any way reducing the strength utility and durabilityof the toy.

Toys constructed according to the principles of this invention comprise broadly an axle supported by suitable wheels, a seat of suitable construction resiliently supported by the axle and connected thereto by means of a novel spring structure, and a combined handle, backrest and handrail structure rigidly secured to the seat, with the shaft or handle portions thereof extending rearwardly of the seat.

The'seat may be provided with a footrest arranged, in a suitable manner, for the convenience of a person carried by the vehicle. Likewise, the handles or shafts may be provided, adjacent their ends or extremities, with hand guards, and may have their extremities fashioned into hooks adapted to dig or'project into the ground, when resting thereon, to prevent the vehicle from running away.

Referring to the drawing in detail and with reference particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be seen that the main units of the toyvehicle comprise an axle and wheel unit (of any suitable conventional form), a spring unit connected at its lower end to the axle, a seat unit secured to the other, or upper, end of the spring unit and a combined brackrest, handrail and handle unit rigidly secured to the seat'unit.

The axle and wheel unit, as illustrated, comprises the axle member I of substantial U-form and having suitable bearing'surfaces at each end for wheels 2 which are secured for rotation thereon in suitable manner. v

The spring unit comprises a pair of spring members 3 having flat, substantially horizontally disposed upper end portions 4, arcuate central portions 5 and substantially flat lower portions 6. At the forward termination of the flat portion 6, each spring member 3 is bent back upon itself at I, and then upwardly (substantially vertically) at 8. The upwardly extending portion 8 terminates in the substantially horizontal but slightly inclined bentprojection 9 which forms a stop for limiting downward movement of the seat member (hereinafter described) from which said stop is substantially spaced (Fig. 3) when there is no load upon the seat.

The seat unit comprises a single member [0 which may be formed of wood, steel or any other suitable material. As shown the seat member In is formed as a steel stamping having side flanges l I extending downwardly therefrom. The upper fiat portions 4 of the spring members are rigidly secured to the under surface of the seat member I.

Also rigidly secured to the under surface of the seat member in are the upper ends of the substantially U-shaped footrest member I2 having the horizontal portion thereof, intermediate the sides or legs, provided with a rigidly secured tread or foot plate 14 which may, if desired, be provided on its upper surface with a covering of any suitable anti-friction material.

The combined handle, backrest, and handrail unit generally designated I5, is formed of a single rod, pipe or tube bent into suitable shape to form a substantially arcuate backrest portion I6 at its central portion, from which extends downwardly, at each side, a portion I! which joins to the backrest portion IS, the side rail portions l8 which are disposed forwardly of and below the backrest portion 16 and at some distance above the seat member I 8.

Each handrail portion l8 terminates forwardly in an arcuate portion it which joins each portion I8 to a substantially straight and substantially horizontal portion 20 which is rigidly secured to the upper surface of the seat member ID. These straight portions 20 extend rearwardly beyond the rear edge of the seat member ID and each join an upwardly inclined portion 2| which serves to offset from the portions 20 the main handle portions 22.

The extreme end of each main handle portion 22 is turned downwardly at 23, as shown in Figure 4, to form a hook portion or projection capable of digging into, or penetrating, turf or ground upon which it rests, to prevent accidental escape of the vehicle when unloaded or when loaded and at rest. Just forwardly of the hook members 23, each main handle port-ion 22 is preferably provided with a suitable loop member 24 forming a hand guard for a child pushing the toy vehicle.

In the illustrated, preferred, form of the toy vehicle, all parts are formed of iron, steel, or other suitable material.

While the rigid connection of the various component parts may be achieved in various known ways such as by bolting, clamping, brazing or rivetting, I nevertheless, for the sake of strength, economy and ease of manufacture, prefer that the parts be secured together by welding.

Where, however, the various parts are formed of other materials than steel or iron, it may be preferable to secure some, or all, of the parts together by clamps, bolts, screws, rivets, or the like.

In the use of the toy, one child sits upon the seat member Ill, places his feet upon the foot plate l4, and grasps the handrails l8. The backrest 16 provides support for the small of his back. The second child grasps the end portions of the main handles 22, placing his fingers through the hand guards 24. He then lifts the handles and either pushes or pulls the vehicle, depending upon the direction he faces. When the vehicle is brought to rest, the second child may release the handles or shafts by removing his fingers from the hand guards 24. If the handles are then dropped, the hook portions will bite, or project into the-turf or soil and prevent the vehicle from moving.

Normally, th seat member ID is spaced above the stop projections 9 in such manner that the child on the seat member is supported, free of the projections 9, by the resiliency of the spring members 3.

When, however, the weight of the child is sufiicient to overload the vehicle, the seat member I!) rests upon the stop projections 9 to prevent damage to the toy.

Likewise, when a sharp bump or obstruction is traversed by the toy, the projections 9 slidably engage the under surface of the seat member ID to provide spring strength supplemental to that of the arcuate spring portions 5, or, in other Words to act as shock absorbers due to their slight inclination from the horizontal which imparts a resiliency to their stop functions.

It is, of course, to be understood that the above described structure is merely illustrative of the manner in which the principles of my invention may be utilized and that I desire to comprehend within my invention such modifications as come within the scope of the claims and the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a toy vehicle having a single axle and wheels s pporting said axle, a rigid seat, spring means for resiliently supporting said seaton said axle, said means comprising substantially U- shaped members each having one end secured to said axle and the other end secured to said seat, and resilient substantially vertically disposed stop members integral with each of said U- shaped members and extending upwardly from a point thereof adjacent said axle, said stop members having bent over end portions slightly inclined from the horizontal and adapted for shock absorbing engagement with said seat upon overloading of said U-shaped members.

2. In a toy vehicle, a single supporting axle having wheels rotatable thereon, a seat member disposed above said axle, laterally spaced similar spring members each having a substantially horizontal upper end portion rigidly attached to said seat member, an arcuate portion extending downwardly from said upper end portion, a substantially horizontal lower portion rigidly attached to said axle, an upwardly directed portion extending upwardly from said lower portion and terminating in a substantially horizontal projection spaced downwardly from said seat member, said last named portion and the projection being adapted to function as a spring member supplemental to said arcuate portion.

3. In a toy vehicle including an axle having wheels thereon and a seat disposed above said axle, a pair of members resiliently connecting said seat and said axle and each forming a combined spring and shock absorbing means, and a single member having rigid connection with opposite sides of said seat and forming backrest means, handrail means, and spaced handle means extending rearwardly from said seat.

' JAMES SMITHWICK. 

